Florida bill would prohibit districts from considering ‘literary value' of challenged books

Florida leads the nation in book removals, and literary freedom advocates fear new legislation moving through the State Capitol would make it even easier for book challengers to have titles pulled from school library shelves.
Currently, state law surrounding book challenges mirrors the national standard of obscenity, also known as the Miller Test.
Under that standard, school boards can consider a challenged book in its whole when determining whether it is content considered 'harmful to minors'.
That means there could be controversial lines in a book, but if it has literary, artistic, scientific or political value when considered in its entirety, it can still be retained.
'For the last five years we've actually seen the same special interest groups attempt to dismantle the Miller Test and remove it from the definition of harmful to minors,' said Stephana Ferrell with the Florida Freedom to Read Project.
But the new legislation approved by its first Senate committee Tuesday would prohibit school boards from considering those factors when making a determination on a book challenge.
'If they can do away with being able to judge a work in its entirety for value to the reader they really basically get to take a book down to its parts and pieces and say we're just not going to allow this content. It doesn't matter what else can be achieved by reading it. It's just not allowed in our schools,' said Ferrell.
Related: 6 books restricted in St. Johns County schools after arguments to have them banned
Bill sponsor State Senator Stan McClain (R-Ocala) argued some districts have abused the value considerations to keep books on shelves that include what he described as pornographic content.
'The artistic part of it, political speech, all of that has been somewhat used to maybe mask, if you will, the other piece of this,' said McClain.
The bill also includes penalties for districts that fail to comply, allowing the Department of Education to withhold state funding.
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The push comes just one year after state lawmakers passed guardrails aimed at cutting down on frivolous book challenges, by limiting people without children in a particular school district to one challenge per month.
It's one reason Ferrell said she's hopeful there won't be an appetite to take a step in the opposite direction this year.
'Because it's not a priority for 95 percent of parents. Right? Less than five percent of students statewide have parental restrictions on their library access. Less than 100 parents since 2021 have filed objections statewide,' said Ferrell.
The Senate version still has two more committee stops before it would reach the chamber floor.
The House companion bill has not yet been scheduled for its first hearing.
Related: Duval County's first and only book challenge ready for consideration
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